درس نهایی انگلیسی

Ultimate English Lesson

I love that I get to make these lessons for you lovely people and I’ve been meaning to make this lesson for ages. But I haven’t managed to find the time. But this week I happen to have free time so I’m doing what I’m supposed to.

Oh my god, did you understand that? Like 50 or 70 percent? Well, don’t worry. After today’s lesson, you’ll be able to understand all of what I’ve just said and you’ll know 5 new and extremely useful expressions which you can start using and really take your English to the next level.

With all of my videos, make sure you have a pen and a paper next to you. Make notes; make your own examples of what I’m teaching you. Put those examples in the comments so everyone can learn together.

Today’s first expression: manage to. When something is difficult but you can do it; you use this expression. The most common example could be: I have a test tomorrow. It will be difficult but I’ll manage. What was saying is, yes, it’s difficult but I can do it. I’ll manage. But that’s the short way. Another example could be: ok, you have tickets to a Beyoncé concert and you really, really want to get a selfie with Beyoncé; that’s almost impossible but, let’s imagine, you go to the concert and, I got a selfie with Beyoncé, I didn’t, this is just an example. You want to say, it was difficult. There were lots of people who wanted a selfie with Beyoncé but you did it. You, you did it. You can say: I managed to get a selfie with Beyoncé. Just remember that, manage to, it just means, this was difficult but I did it.

Ok, let’s imagine, you went to the concert, you tried to get a selfie but it was too difficult. It’s very sad. How do you say this in the negative form? I didn’t manage to get a selfie with Beyoncé. It was too difficult, too many people. So in the negative, you’re saying, it was difficult, I tried, I wasn’t successful. I didn’t manage to, blah blah blah. Ok, how about in a question? Easy, you see someone holding two heavy bags. It looks difficult so you want to ask, are you ok? Or do you need help? Can you manage? Or do you need help? Of course we use this short form version here because the long form version is, can you manage to carry those heavy bags alone? You don’t need to say that. We already know the context. We know what you want to say. So, can you manage? That’s enough. So, create your own examples and write them in the comments. What have you tried and been successful at? What have you tried and failed at? Using manage to, in the positive and the negative.

Another very common way, we could use, manage to, is in this question. For example someone starts a new job, a new project, a new course in school or some new or difficult situation. We might ask: oh, how are managing in your new school? How are you managing in your new job? How are you managing with that whole situation? It’s difficult but how are you? He wants to reply, it’s not easy but I’m okay. We’ll change I’m okay to, it’s not easy but I’m managing. Or in the negative, it’s too much, I can’t manage. For some reason, it’s too much, too much work, it’s too difficult. He can say, I can’t manage. You might be wondering, okay, is that the same as cope then? Cause you would say, I can’t cope. Yes, in that context, it’s the same. In positive, yeah, it’s not easy but I’m coping. In the negative, yeah, it’s not easy, I can’t cope.

Our next expression is: happen to. Imagine you’re walking in London, you’re walking down Oxford Street and you’re thinking, damn Beyoncé is cool; I wish I could meet her one day. And just then, bam, you bump into Beyoncé. Oh, bump into, literally it means you, a person, oh sorry. So you could say I literally bumped into someone but casually bump into, it just means you meet someone by chance. So, you’re thinking about Beyoncé and then bam, you bump into her by chance. This is a big coincidence. So you want to say that something happened by chance, you replace the by chance with happened to. And then of course that’s not past anymore because the past is here. I happened to bump into Beyoncé today. Oh my god, I was thinking about Beyoncé and then I happened to bump into her.

So in a negative you could use it like this. Boyfriend and girlfriend, there’re fighting. This guy went out with his friends and girlfriend was calling him, a lot. But he didn’t answer. Hum, why is that? Oh, you were calling me, oh I’m so sorry. I didn’t see. See, I didn’t check my phone all night. Oh really, you just didn’t happen to check you phone? So remember I said, happen to, something happens or doesn’t happen by chance, by coincidence. Because what she’s really saying is, hah, I’m calling you and calling you, that’s a big coincidence that you didn’t check your phone. So when you don’t believe something, you could use it like that. Now as you know, British people, we like to ask questions and talk, in a ridiculously polite way. So in questions we use happen to, most commonly, to make a question really, really, ridiculously polite but it’s also very common. Let me show you. A normal question like: do you have any free time today? That’s fine but remember, to make it more polite, you could just add, happen to. Do you happen to have any free time today? Sorry for existing. This is just a more polite way of asking any question, because it’s more indirect. Again try to use, happen to, in the comments. I will correct you.

Our next expression is, get to. Uh, get, I know, right? It’s a stupid word. But a really useful way of using get is, get to. When you have a special opportunity to do something or you’re given a special ability to do something, you can use get to. For example: this week is a very busy week for you. You’re working hard all week, but at the weekend you’re free. You have that special opportunity to sleep as much as you want. You can say: uh, I’m working hard all week but I get to sleep lots at the weekend. We’re just saying that, get to, is your special opportunity. Usually you’re working hard but at the weekend you have that special opportunity to sleep.

How would you use this in a negative? Usually you get to sleep a lot but last night your cat was, meow, meow, all night. You could say, I didn’t get to sleep much last night because my cat was meowing. How could you use get to, in a question? She is traveling to New York for business and her friend wants to ask: oh my god, you’re going to New York on business? Is it all work or will you get to enjoy the city? We’re asking, will you have the ability; will you have that special opportunity to enjoy the city? Other examples, okay, for me personally, I do YouTube videos, I teach online, so I’m lucky. I get to work from home. Oh, also as a negative. Okay, I’m a Londoner; I’m very busy inside London most of the time, so I don’t get to leave London very often. I don’t have that opportunity very often. So again, use your own examples, put them in the comments, I’ll try and correct you.

The next one is very misused and very misunderstood, be supposed to. The most common use of be supposed to is in expectation. It’ the weekend, you decide, I’m going to the beach today. You check the weather, sunny, perfect. But then you arrive at the beach and it’s raining. You were expecting sunny weather. You can express your expectation with be supposed to. It was supposed to be sunny today. They expected it to be sunny. Also when you’re talking about things you’ve heard about something, you can use be supposed to. For example, have you seen Book of Mormon? No, is it good? Yeah, I heard some things. It supposed to be funny. And it is, it’s hilarious. You should go, see it.

It could also be used for rules or what you’re allowed to do or not allowed to do. For example, let’s look at the negative of this. Hey, you’re not supposed to smoke in here. But there is a feeling with be supposed to, that it’s not exactly a hard, strict rule, it’s more of an expected rule. What exactly do I mean by that? Well, think of social rules, things that you’re expected to do socially. For example, someone invites you to their house for dinner. They are going to cook for you. As a guest what is expected of you, to do? For example in England, you’re expected to bring wine. So I’ll use, be supposed to. You’re supposed to bring wine. Again I’m just saying, that’s the expected thing to do. So in your country if you go to someone’s house, what are you supposed to do? Or what are you not supposed to do? Tell me in the comments.

A question I usually get about this is: okay, it’s a rule, is it the same as I have to? The answer is no and I’ll show you why. For example two friends are talking then one checks the time. Oh my god, it’s 5 o’clock. Uh, I have a plan to meet my other friend in 20 minutes. So she could say, I’m supposed to meet my other friend, or she could say, I have to meet my other friend. Do they mean the same thing? No. If she says, I have to meet my other friend, she’s leaving, that’s her obligation. So she will definitely leave this friend to go see her other friend, however if she says, I’m supposed to meet my other friend, remember that, be supposed to implies an expectation; her friend is expecting her but it’s not an obligation. So if this friend is more fun, then maybe she will stay. Sorry, I’m sick; I can’t come to meet you.

So again, be supposed, yes, it’s a rule but it’s a more of an expected rule. You can also use, be supposed to, to show your intention. This couple is on holiday and this guy has a plan, he has an intention to ask her to marry him. This is his engagement ring. Everything’s going well, until.. An engagement ring, you’re going to propose. But, oh no, that wasn’t his intention. He wanted to hide it. He wanted it to be a surprise, so he’ll say this: ah, you weren’t supposed to see. It was supposed to be a surprise. He’s talking about his intention, in both positive and negative. I wanted it to be surprise. I didn’t want you to see it. That wasn’t my intention.

Now our final expression: be meant to. We can use this in the same way, when we talk about intention. So we could easily just change this, to this. You weren’t meant to see. It was meant to be a surprise. And also it works for those rules, in the same way as, be supposed to. For example, remember the guy smoking, we’ll change that. So you could replace be supposed to with be meant to. You’re not meant to smoke in here, read the sign. In the passive form, it means the same thing but you can use this in an active form, how? You know those moments when you’re walking and you bump into someone or you hit someone but it was an accident. You didn’t want to hit the person. You can express yourself by saying: oh, I’m sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to hit you. So in the active form, mean to, that is only for your intention, what you want to do. Another example could be: I bought this book a year ago. I’ve been meaning to read it but I haven’t had time. So again you’re just saying, you wanted to read it. It was your intention to read it but you didn’t.

And finally, you could use this when you want to say, you’re just joking. Remember, it’s about intention. So if you want to say: no, no, no, I’m joking. Or if someone misunderstood what you said, you can use it this way: oh my god, gluten free people are so dumb. Yeah, I have Celiac disease, am I dumb? No, no, I didn’t mean it like that. You’re fine but people without the allergy, when they’re gluten free, that’s dumb. Yeah.

Thanks for watching. I hope you learned loads.